15 Things Other Than Money People Stuff Into Red Kettles

The Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign is its largest annual fundraiser, and over the years, some weird stuff has been tossed in the big red buckets.

The Red Kettle Campaign runs from Thanksgiving through Christmas, featuring volunteers ringing bells beside iconic red kettles outside stores to collect donations for year-round aid.

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The Red Kettle Campaign funds services like food, shelter, disaster relief, and programs for those battling poverty and homelessness.

Every donation, from coins in the kettle to online gifts, helps provide immediate Christmas assistance and supports critical social services 365 days a year.

But sometimes, some rather interesting things show up in the bright red kettles.

Here are 15 unusual items people have put in Salvation Army Red Kettles over the years:

Gold teeth and dental crowns - Multiple locations have received gold dental caps, crowns, and even gold molars, including four gold teeth.

Viagra pills - Donations have included Viagra medication, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Wedding rings (accidental) - Rings sometimes fall into kettles by accident.

Civil War tokens - Historical Civil War-era tokens have been dropped in kettles.

Expensive watches - Luxury timepieces have been donated.

Paper clips - Simple office supplies like paper clips have turned up.

A gold dental bridge with part of a tooth still attached - One kettle received a gold dental bridge that still had part of a tooth on it.

A 300-year-old gold escudo from a shipwreck - An unidentified person handed a bell ringer a rare gold coin recovered from Spanish treasure ships that sank in 1715, worth several thousand dollars.

A loose diamond wrapped in wadded paper - A worker in Shawnee, Kansas, almost threw away what turned out to be a diamond tucked inside wadded paper.

Birth control pills - Ok...

Foreign currency - Various foreign bills used to wrap valuable items.

Bathroom tokens - The gift that keeps on giving.

Random buttons - Small items that end up in the mix.

Keys - Personal items accidentally or intentionally dropped in.

Notes and poems - Handwritten notes and poems have accompanied donations, including from a decades-long anonymous donor who eventually died but whose family continued the tradition.